Yewande Roberts, daughter of Olatunde Disu, former Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), has accused the General Overseer of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr. Daniel Olukoya, of sexual harassment, psychological abuse, and the unlawful withholding of her late husband’s intellectual property for over eight years.
In a detailed account shared with SaharaReporters on Monday, Roberts, who is the widow of the late MFM youth pastor and gospel music minister, Pastor Tope Roberts, appealed to Olukoya to release her husband’s recorded songs and creative materials, which she claimed have been in the church’s custody since his death.
“I was once a Muslim but joined the church at the back of my institution because I felt I needed prayers and counselling due to the spiritual encounters I had from childhood,” she said.
“I decided to meet the General Overseer of MFM for prayers and counselling.”
According to Roberts, after meeting Olukoya, she was asked to work for him as a transcriber.
“He asked me if I was a virgin, and in my heart, I wondered what he wanted to do with that information,” she alleged.
Roberts alleged that the MFM General Overseer subjected her to various forms of physical and emotional abuse under the guise of deliverance.
“He told me I should be coming to his office for prayers. He would slap my womb, insert his hands into my ears, touch my eyes, scrub my forehead, and strangulate my neck many times,” she said.
“I was worried but didn’t know who to tell because I knew people would not believe me.”
She further alleged that Olukoya once hugged her “in a way that made me uncomfortable,” claiming that he “drew my bra from behind as if he wanted to remove it.”
Roberts said her late husband, Tope, was a promising gospel artist who won a church-organised music competition and was subsequently signed to the MFM record label.
However, following his death, she alleged that Olukoya and the church leadership refused to release his recorded songs or provide her with any copies of his videos and burial footage.
“They erased all his music ministrations from their social media pages,” she said.
“Even the burial pictures and videos, which they handled, were never given to me. I have nothing to show my son about his father.”
Roberts also alleged that the church stigmatised her, branding her “Emere” (marine spirit) and accusing her of killing her husband.
“They called me names like ‘Emere Alakisa’ and ‘Emere Alashopinpo,’ saying I ate my husband and drank his blood,” she said. “It broke me. I went through depression and have been undergoing therapy.”
She said that when she uploaded three of her late husband’s personal songs to YouTube to preserve his memory for their son, Olukoya demanded that she take them down.
“The General Overseer called me and said if I didn’t remove the songs, he would stop sponsoring my son’s education,” Roberts alleged.
“I refused and told him I wouldn’t remove them. Since then, they’ve been calling me all sorts of names online.”
Roberts further accused some pastors within MFM of attempting to sexually harass her after her husband’s death.
“One of their music ministers and pastors tried to molest me when I was living in the church house,” she said.
“He told me I looked old and that if he slept with me, I would look better. I reported him to Dr. Olukoya, but nothing was done until I had to move out of the church accommodation.”
She also alleged another incident involving a youth pastor who, under the pretext of helping her secure accommodation, attempted to touch her inappropriately while she slept in his home.
“He sneaked out of his matrimonial room and put his hands under my clothes while I was sleeping,” she recounted. “I jumped up and ran out.”
According to her, the harassment continued even outside the church as her social media accounts were repeatedly taken down.
“They pulled down my Facebook page three times, my Instagram page four times, and even erased everything on my WhatsApp,” she said.
Roberts said that at one point, Olukoya invited her under the pretext of offering financial assistance.
“He told me to write a business proposal, but after I submitted it, I saw the same proposal leaked on one of their bloggers’ pages, claiming I begged him for money,” she said.
“That same day, I had two accidents; one near the MFM street and another on the expressway, but God saved me.”
She added that despite the years that have passed since her husband’s death, the church has continued to hold onto his creative works.
“This is eight years now, and Dr. Olukoya has refused to release my husband’s intellectual property,” she said. “I have moved on with my life, trusting that one day God will fight for me.”
History of Similar Allegations
In a related case, in April, Nigerian social media influencer and YouTuber Mrs Funke Ashekun alleged that Olukoya grabbed her, placed his forehead against hers, and hypnotised her in his counselling room.
In an exclusive interview with SaharaReporters, Ashekun, who spent nearly 20 years in the church and served as a minister, shared her disturbing experiences.
She was actively involved in the church’s visionary work, travelled abroad to train ministers in worship, and led the singles’ fellowship known as Padu.
Ashekun recounted an unsettling incident that allegedly occurred when she visited Olukoya’s office, not for deliverance, but to submit an official report about a recent singles’ fellowship programme.
Her husband had become a full-time church worker, and she had also been made a full-time worker.
“Without any warning, Olukoya pulled me close and placed his forehead against mine,” she recalled. “He then said, ‘Look straight into my eyes.’
“The moment I did, I felt something very unsettling—almost hypnotic. I couldn’t understand what was happening, but it felt deeply uncomfortable.”
Ashekun admitted that at the time, she did not suspect anything sinister because Olukoya was known for preaching about holiness and deliverance.
She shared that after moving to the U.S., she started receiving messages from several women who said they had gone through the same experience.
“They told me that every time he did this, they would lose consciousness,” she said.
“That was when I realised—it wasn’t just an uncomfortable moment; it was hypnotism. Thank God I didn’t lose consciousness that day. Otherwise, I, too, might have become one of his victims.”
Before leaving Nigeria, Ashekun said she encountered a woman who had been suicidal due to years of alleged sexual abuse by Olukoya.
